Tuesday, February 18, 2014

GOLDFINGER tour 2014

WHAT AM I DOING?

For the past few years I’ve been a vagabond Nia teacher. Choosing not to have regular Nia classes in the city I call home (Seattle) and instead taking extended road trips with my dog, River, to share my Nia talents from town to town across the USA.

I have been a Nia teacher since I got my White Belt in 1996. I achieved Black Belt in 2003 and this year I am fresh from getting my First Degree Black Belt. I'm so thrilled about this new level of mastery of Nia and I'm eager to share my new artistry and genius with anyone who's interested.

This year I’m focused on sharing my Nia routine called GOLDFINGER. I created it when I was inspired
by hearing the album, Shirley Bassey: The Remix Album: Diamonds Are
Forever. There are three James Bond movie theme songs and many other great Shirley Bassey hits remixed into exciting dance jams. When I first heard the album, I knew it was perfect for a Nia class. It was simple to add moves that are classic Nia with my signature joyful athleticism. The class is very popular with students as the classic songs are familiar but they're also punched up a bit with artistic touches by modern DJs.

When I’m on the road, I mostly like to share whatever classic Nia routine that I’ve created for the year. In the past, I’ve created and shared Ceili (a Celtic celebration), Aye (all African, mostly Angelique Kidjo) or Rockin (classic 60s and 70s Rock n Roll). I can also offer a variety of Nia playshops, like Freeing Your FreeDance, Super Human Strength, The 9 Movement Forms of Nia, Nia Knee-hab, and many more as well as collaborate with local teachers in a jam or co-created special event.

HOW DOES IT WORK? RATES? REQUIREMENTS?

Each town and each community I visit has different methods, expectations and practices. My goal is to fit into each community as seamlessly as possible. So what I like to do is to connect with someone in the town I’m visiting and appoint them as Producer. The producer secures the space and promotes the class to get people there and takes the money at the door (or appoints someone else to).

As producer, you can create a flier or promote however you want to. I can create a simple flier and send a digital copy to you, and I can also create a page on my blog with information and pictures and even a place for people to pre-register using PayPal if that's something that we decide we want to do. But once you take over as producer, you get to do things your way and I support you.

I have no set price. Whatever price is typical for events in
the region will be what we charge for our event. People will sign up,
pre-register or pay at the door through the producer, who will then take
30% of the profits and pay me at the end of the event.

In some cases, you may simply want me to sub your class for you. In that case, I'd be fine with whatever you typically pay subs. Some teachers have promoted my class as a special event with an added fee to go toward paying me, but as I've said, I'm not asking for any minimum fee.

One thing that’s important to mention is my dog.

River comes with me.

He’s my constant companion on the road, which means when I go into a studio, he does too.

He’s been in dance studios, wellness centers and gyms all across the country and is very well mannered and well-behaved.

I have been delighted to learn that the majority of places have no issues with my
bringing River, but I still like to make sure up front. It is important to me that everyone is on board and OK with him before we set anything up.

I arrive with him on leash. We enter and set up his crate, which he sleeps in, with the door closed, during the class. After class, I take him, on leash, back out to my car. Anyone who wants to, is welcome to interact with River. He is very friendly and loves to meet people, but he will not be released to roam free and approach people. Anyone not wanting to interact with the dog will find him very easy to avoid.

WHERE WILL WE BE?

Here is a list of proposed dates and cities. If you see your town or a nearby town on the list and the date that accompanies it works for you, let’s talk about setting something up.
I will arrive in the afternoon or evening of the date listed and then leave town the following morning, so if you see the date May 4, for example, keep in mind that I could teach something that evening, or the following morning before heading off to the next town.

Also, if you see that the date is just a day or two off of a date that works for you, please let me know as soon as possible. Every seven days or so, I have allowed a two-day stay. This gives the whole itinerary a little wiggle room. But once I start to solidify dates, things start to get less and less malleable. When in doubt, it's always OK to suggest a slight tweak to my route and if I can make it work, I will.